I Don’t Wanna Work, I Just Wanna Knit on My Shawl All Day

Bonus points to anyone who knows what song lyric I bastardized for today’s blog title. (And kudos to those of you who identified the song lyric from Thursday’s blog title. I’m not the only Head East fan, I see.)

Yes, shawl knitting is addictive. Even if it is knitting the freaking 17 billion stitches of edging on the freaking Tina Shawl.

I am so not a fan of knitting on edging. By the time I get to that point in a shawl, I am so ready to be done with it. And the edging can take a long time. It looks so small, but it’s knit back and forth and there’s a lot of time wasting flipping the shawl to and fro (and fro and to). So it always takes longer than I expect.

I put a needle point protector on the non-working end of the circular that the body of Tina is on.

I’m using the working end of the circular needle plus one straight needle to do the back-and-forth knitting on the edging.

This seems to work best for me. And now that I’ve got a bit of the edging completed, I thnk I’m going to attempt to take Tina back on the commute. Even though it is a whole lotta shawl, it certainly doesn’t weigh much. We’ll see how I do!

But the Sunday afternoon knitting is conducted under strict feline supervision!

I recognized it because that’s the “5:00 Friday” song on a few of the local radio stations on the trek home. I like to bellow along “I don’t wanna work, I just want to knit with the yarn all day, I don’t wanna play, I just want to knit with the yarn all day . . . ”

On a totally different note (!) has anyone read the book “Knitting” by Anne Bartlett? It is a novel about two very different women, one of whom is an avid knitter. In one part she describes the evolution of knitting from that of complex patterns to complex yarns so the newest knitters can create something beautiful right away.

It’s fun to read about knitting, but it takes away from actually doing it!

“I don’t want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day

Ever since I was a tiny boy
I don’t want no candy
I don’t need no toy
I took a stick and an old coffee can
I bang on that thing ’til I got
Blisters on my hand because

When I get older they think I’m a fool
The teacher told me I should stay after school
She caught me pounding on the desk with my hands
But my licks was so hot
I made the teacher wanna dance
And that’s why

Listen to this
Every day when I get home from work
I feel so frustrated
The boss is a jerk
And I get my sticks and go out to the shed
And I pound on that drum like it was the boss’s head
Because

I can bang that drum
Hey, you wanna take a bang at it?
I can do this all day”

My favorite line in the song was always “and I bang on the drum like it was the boss’s head” . . . until I became a boss. I hope no one that works for me every feels that way! Keep up the great progress on the shawls.

Wow — ever since I found your blog, way back when, I’ve been awed by your work. Now you’re inspiring me to become a lace knitter, although it’s not something I’ve ever considered before! I mean, I’m not a shawl wearer, but I think I’ll have to become one. My only problem is what to start with – so many beautiful choices. Oh, and Alice Starmore owes you thanks too, for selling at least one more copy of her book with the Inishmore Sweater due to the Inishmore Challenge 😉

For the problem of having to flip the shawl over… and over… and over again, while doing the edging, I strongly recommend learning to knit “backwards”. That is, knit like a “lefty” on the row back, instead of turning the work over repeatedly. Definitely do some practice rows on something else first, until your left-handed gauge evens out. Enjoy!

It took me a week to get to row 60: I’m so impressed, but not surprised. At least you didn’t finish over the weekend, as I predicted. I’m at row #145 right now, just inside chart number 4. ‘Think you’ll be there by tonight? I do.

All graphics, patterns, text, and content on this site are the sole property of Wendy D. JohnsonCopyright (c) 2002-2018 Wendy D. Johnson
Not to be reproduced in any form without written permission from Wendy D. Johnson